Milwaukee County

Ex-Ald. Michael McGee Jr. leaves federal prison, to start state term

Former Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee Jr. enjoyed two days of freedom this week - his first time out from behind bars since he was arrested on Memorial Day 2007.

McGee, who was convicted of taking bribes and other crimes, was released from federal prison Wednesday. But the outspoken alderman is not done with his time behind bars.

McGee, 43, must serve a year at the County Correctional Facility-South in Franklin. McGee must report to the sheriff's office Friday morning to start serving time on his state convictions, according to court records and sheriff's officials.

While at the County Correctional Facility-South, McGee will be eligible for release to work and to help in the care of his children, both granted by Milwaukee County Circuit Judges Richard Sankovitz and Charles Kahn.

The former alderman was arrested in 2007 after FBI agents intercepted calls in which McGee discussed beating a man or possibly killing him for stealing. McGee was charged in state court with those counts as well as election-related crimes and violating court orders.

In federal court, he was charged with soliciting and accepting bribes, using his power over liquor licenses in Milwaukee to shake down business owners for cash, food and cellphones. McGee remained behind bars until his federal trial, after prosecutors successfully argued McGee was a risk to intimidate witnesses.

McGee was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced in October 2008 to 6 1/2 years in prison. He also was ordered to pay $107,000 in restitution and received three years on supervised release.

After his federal sentencing, McGee pleaded no contest in state court to the felony of lying to an elections official and the misdemeanor of violating court orders related to a secret John Doe proceeding. Ten other counts were dropped, including the charges that McGee plotted to have a man beaten.

On March 3, 2009, McGee reported to Sandstone Federal Prison, a low-security facility in Minnesota, and he was released from there Wednesday, according to a spokesman with the Bureau of Federal Prisons.

He received 519 days of credit for his earlier incarceration and had 305 days cut off for good conduct, which is standard for prisoners who avoid problems such as fights, prisons bureau spokesman Chris Burke said.

Driver's license denied

McGee tried unsuccessfully to get his driver's license renewed this week, according to a document he filed Thursday in federal court in Milwaukee.

McGee said he was denied a renewal because he has had licenses under different names.

In 2006, McGee filed to legally change his name from Michael Jackson to Michael McGee - the name he used his whole life. He later dropped the effort, and online records do not show any other efforts for his name to be changed.

According to a prosecutor's memo, McGee admitted to federal agents that he made up a Social Security number to get a new driver's license after his was suspended. He told agents his legal name is Michael Imanu Jackson but that he never had a Social Security number under that name. Instead, he had one under McGee.

When his license was suspended, McGee said, he made up a Social Security number and got a license under the name Jackson, according to the court document.

In the letter he filed this week, McGee asked U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert to issue a document stating his name is Michael I. McGee, born in October 1969. McGee said he will not be able to pay restitution without a job and he needs a license to work. He did not say what he planned to do.

"I respectively ask the court to expedite this order so that I can immediately comply with my outstanding obligations at both the state and federal levels," he wrote.

About John Diedrich

John Diedrich writes about crime, federal issues, ultimate fighting and guns. His investigations have been honored with various national awards including a George Polk Award for reporting on rogue gun stores and an IRE award for exposing botched undercover federal stings.